Mark Davis takes inspiration from Aces for Raiders troubles

When the NFL owners met for the annual fall meetings on Tuesday, Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis knew what questions he had to answer.

His team was staring down the barrel of another losing season with a 2-5 start. This one, however, hurt more than normal, due to all the promise that the offseason seemed to provide. The additions of head coach Pete Carroll, quarterback Geno Smith and running back Ashton Jeanty all gave Raiders fans reason to believe this season would be different, only to watch their team suffer the same pitfalls as before.

Carroll and general manager John Spytek have already found themselves on the hot seat as a result, and Davis shared exactly his thoughts on the matter.

Davis made an interesting comparison between the two teams he owns.

During the meetings, Davis made it clear that he has every intention to allow Carroll and Spytek to ride this out and try to get their vision to result in on-field success.

“You have to have faith in the people that you hired. And I do,” Davis said, per Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “You’ve got to give them a chance to do the job.”

In his argument, Davis brought up the Las Vegas Aces and how they had to endure similar struggles during their season.

Back in August, a 53-point defeat at the hands of the Minnesota Lynx put the Aces at 14-14 and lead many to wonder if their championship window had slammed shut. Davis was questioning the same thing but, ultimately, he gave his leadership group the benefit of the doubt and continued to build the team as a contender. That faith lead to a franchise-record 17-game winning streak, which the Aces rode to their third championship in four years.

“It’s unbelievable that I was given that opportunity,” Davis said, “to have that in my mindset.

“You always question, but as I did with the Aces, I had faith in the leadership, just as I have faith in the people that I hired here as the head coach and general manager,” Davis added. “And I’m going to let them do their job and let’s see what the results are.”

Carroll and Spytek appear to be safe for the time being, as Davis is hoping that similar faith yields the same results as the Aces.